Chairman APTMA Punjab S M Tanveer said APTMA has put forward sustainability and growth vision to the Chief Minister Punjab and Federal Textile Minister to compete with regional competitors fully supported with incentives by their respective governments.
He said the Punjab-based textile industry is incurring Rs 80 billion as additional costs over and above on energy consumption comparing with the industry in other provinces. The consumption of Punjab-based industry on PEPCO network is around 84%, which means that the industry in other provinces is consuming gas-based captive power plants energy, costing them around Rs 7 per unit, he added.
According to him, the Punjab-based textile industry is deprived of both electricity and gas supplies, making it unviable with every passing day. Meanwhile, Group Leader APTMA Gohar Ejaz the vision 2018 presented to the Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi.
According to him, APTMA believes that 750,000 tones surplus yarn is needed to be converted into processed fabric and ultimately into value-added garments. Under the vision, Gohar said, heavy investment in yarn, fabric and value-added textile industry will add another $13 billion to the exports in next five years. APTMA has also envisioned dedicated coal-based energy plants for 200 new textile mills. APTMA has put forward the vision of setting up government supported 660MW coal-based plants on equity basis to ensure energy at 8 cents per unit in line with regional industrial tariff against 16 cents per unit in Pakistan at present, he added. At the end of the meeting, the Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif encouraged APTMA to come forward and resolve energy issues through setting up coal-based power plants. The Chief Minister Punjab has fixed April 20 to finalise textile vision 2018 for the textile industry.
The Chief Minister Punjab has also agreed to Chairman APTMA (ex-officio) to Head, Cotton Research Institute, as it is being funded 100% by APTMA members to help farmers to increase yield and productivity of cotton growing areas. Also, the Chief Minister Punjab has directed SNGPL to increase gas supply to the Punjab-based textile industry to 8 hours a day to keep it operational. The Federal Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi also appreciated positive approach of APTMA and assured of full support towards the growth vision.
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